Area Schools Compete in Coyle Invitational Basketball Tournament

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  • CJ Wilson
    CJ Wilson
  • Coyles Aubrey Taylor drives around Watonga defender. Photos by Tanner Spearman and Mike Monahan
    Coyles Aubrey Taylor drives around Watonga defender. Photos by Tanner Spearman and Mike Monahan
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The Coyle Invitational Basketball Tournament ended Saturday night with Southwest Covenant beating Watonga 65-60 to win the boy’s tournament and Watonga upsetting the No. 1-seeded Okarche Lady Warriors 51-45 to win the girl’s tournament.

The Mulhall-Orlando Panthers finished third on the boy’s side by beating Okeene, and the Coyle girls finished in fourth place after losing to Okeene on Jan. 23.

The Crescent teams, the Coyle boys’ and Mulhall-Orlando girls’ teams all had a rough weekend at various points, but they all won one game of the three they played. The Coyle junior varsity girls’ and the Southwest Covenant junior varsity boys’ teams were the only winless teams in the tournament. The two teams were last minute fill-ins for Oilton who had COVID issues and had to pause all game activities.

Attendance was down this year because of the pandemic, but the Coyle staff had a solid tournament without a lot of issues. There was some surprise as the boys No. 1-seeded Okarche Warriors were upset the first day by Okeene, but then took it out on tournament host Coyle on Jan. 22, 90-43.

There were solid performances by the Watonga teams and the Southwest Covenant teams all three days. The Crescent Tigers and Lady Tigers each won their first game of the year in the tournament. The Coyle junior varsity put up a valiant effort over the weekend but were just too inexperienced against the varsity teams.

Kris Boynton of Coyle and Shawn Burgess of Mulhall-Orlando are two underclassman that played well this weekend. The Coyle girls’ team is young, but senior Aubrey Taylor may have had the best three games of the season for the Lady Bluejackets.

The season for the small schools is winding down as Class A and B district brackets get announced on January 25. Coyle is a district host with Shidler, Mason and Wesleyan Christian coming to town. The Mulhall-Orlando teams are going to Glencoe with Glencoe, Oilton and Prue.

 

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